Export growth is loosing momentum: CII

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has said that the December 2013 trade deficit for India came in at USD 10.14 billion versus USD 17.19 billion in the same month last year.

The reduction was driven by a 15.25 percent fall in imports, which came in at USD 36.49 percent, while exports grew by 3.5 percent to USD 26.35, though exports rose 3.49 percent from year-earlier levels to USD 26.35 billion, but it seems to have lost momentum as exports had been growing at a double-digit rate until October, Sanjay Budhia, Chairman, CII National Committee on Exports said.

"The economic conditions in the US and the euro zone are not very favorable for exports and we hope the Indian government will help the exporters by providing help by way of including more products and countries for Focus Product Scheme and Focus market Scheme, where we have a comparative advantage," said Budhia.

He said, "Also, we need to relook at the duty drawback rates. These measures should be addressed on a priority basis as it will give the necessary push to the industry and help them reach the export target."

Budhia said that the cost of credit is becoming higher as funds for export is available at higher cost.

Timely refund from schemes like Duty Drawback, Excise Rebate and VAT Refund will release the funds and ease the liquidity, he noted.